1.1M views · Nov 20, 2013 · 33:36 · 1 HN recommender · 5 mentions · discussed 2016–2021
Craig Heffner's Black Hat 2013 talk on exploiting network surveillance cameras, covering how insecure their firmware is. It shows how easily such devices can be compromised.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it as a fun and damning illustration of how poor security is in IP cameras, even expensive ones.
“Here's a pretty fun 2 year old talk from Blackhat, re surveillance camera firmware and how s*tty they are”HN comment, 2016
“Here's a pretty fun 2 year old talk from Blackhat, re surveillance camera firmware and how s*tty they are”
Fun talk on how insecure surveillance camera firmware is.
Here's a pretty fun 2 year old talk from Blackhat, re surveillance camera firmware and how s*tty they are: this video
Illustrates poor security of surveillance cameras.
Ah, security cameras. Never-updated linux boxes, frequently with homegrown http servers, often with secret hardcoded credentials in clear text laying around in the firmware blob. this video
“It's a similar situation to webcams”
Shows similar vendor firmware insecurity in webcams.
Most of the out-of-band management systems (aka IPMI/DRAC/LOM) that server vendors use are built by the same 2-3 companies and rebranded. These companies churn out some truly horrible software with little consideration for security. It's often difficult to automate firmware updates, so they tend to stay vulnerable. It's a similar situation to webcams: this video
“purpose built security cameras -- even expensive ones from well reputed industry brands -- have had similar very poor levels of very poor security for many years.”
Shows expensive security cameras had very poor security.
These vague "The Chinese are up to something but we cannot reveal what" isn't really helpful, particularly given the current trade tensions This is exacerbated by the very poor levels of security in these devices in general: DEF CON 23 - Robinson and Mitchell - Knocking my neighbors kids cruddy drone offline link However, to put things into perspective, purpose built security cameras -- even expensive ones from well reputed industry brands -- have had similar very poor levels of very poor security for many years. this video It's not really a problem of drones. It's a problem with the poor levels of security in consumer devices in general. It's "as if" the situation has been engineered to let bad actors do lots of spying.
“There are $5000 security cameras placed in very sensitive areas with security just as poor as the $50 trash”
Example of professional-grade cameras with junk firmware.
>The thing I’d add is that it’s not just consumer-grade products with this problem, there are plenty of supposedly professional-grade devices where the firmware is junk too. Absolutely. An example: this video There are $5000 security cameras placed in very sensitive areas with security just as poor as the $50 trash you can buy from Office Depot (or at least it was the case 8 years ago).
